Totally Worth It

Did I really need to spend 230 calories on a bag of milk chocolate M&Ms just now?

If I wanted to avoid (a) a completely undignified faceplant into my desk in front of my co-workers, (b) slapping someone for no other reason than hunger made me crazy or (c) breaking into my colleague's locked office to raid her mini-Reese's cups stash....then yes, yes, I totally needed these M&Ms.

Don't judge. Although if you could admit that you're craving some now, too, it would make me feel better!

At Least The Decorations Looked Like Beads

If you're looking for my Freeform Peyote Challenge reveal, please go HERE!

They were made for a fundraising event, so there are no calories involved, right?
 Good cause = guilt and  calorie free, right?

We had an Irish-themed event at work yesterday, and I decided to make some food to add to the spread.

This was my first Pinterest-inspired food venture - chocolate covered pretzels, sprinkled with green nonpareils to make them appropriate for St. Patrick's Day.

They were delicious.  Thank goodness other people ate most of them, so I have half a prayer of continuing to fit into my jeans...

Challenge of Color - Rolling Down the River

Welcome to my little piece of the 3rd Annual Challenge of Color!  Y'all just grab a comfy place to settle in and come along.

Each participant was given two palettes derived from photos in the US Geological Services'  Earth As Art Gallery, which uses various satellite images, filtered to emphasize colors in the spectrum we normally don't perceive.  We were only required to use one palette, but of course I couldn't choose, so in typical "why just dive off the cliff when you can jump off backwards and throw in a few somersaults along the way" fashion, I did both.

And both of my palettes are rivers.  First, the Ghadamis River, an ancient riverbed in Libya:

Desert Riverbed Pendant of amazonite,  peruvian opal, strawberry quartz and seed beads

The Peruvian opals were the starting point here.  They matched the palette perfectly, and the striations of color in the gemstone mimic the natural striations of the landscape. I wanted to somehow capture the feathery effect of the landscape along with the colors.  The branched fringe I tried first was just fugly, so I settled on loopy fringe instead.

Here they are side by side:

                

The second palette is called Meandering Mississippi:

And here's my Mississippi Mud Romance necklace:

The cubes were the first thing I pulled out of the stash, because they were a perfect match for the olive green in the palette.  Then it occurred to me that I had the sterling silver squiggle in a pile of UFO's, where I had envisioned it as the starting point for a bracelet that never happened.  Throw in a little freeform peyote, some woven leather the color of rich Mississippi mud, a hand-forged sterling clasp, and there you've got it.

And the side by side:

 

And what does "Romance" have to do with Mississippi Mud?  On our first date, my husband and I shared a truly decadent chocolate miracle of the baker's craft called Mississippi Mud Pie.  Any man who would (a) order such a fantastic dessert and (b) share it with me was obviously a keeper.

Anyway, with great thanks to Erin and Brandi who organized this wonderful challenge (thanks, ladies!!), here are the other folks playing along with this challenge.  Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment if you like, and go check out the rest of the hoppers:

Erin Prais-Hintz    http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html

Rebecca Anderson    http://songbeads.blogspot.com

Kris Auderer    http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com

Chrizette Bayman    http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com

Lori Bowring Michaud    http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com

Courtney Breul    http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/

Lynsey Brooks    http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk

Stephanie Buss    http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com

Iveth Caruso    http://www.creativeatelier.net/

Shannon Chomanczuk    http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com

Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/

Cece Cormier    http://thebeadingyogini.com

Lori Dorrington    http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com

Dawn Doucette    http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com

Jeannie Dukic    http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/

Kim Dworak    http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/

Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com

Janice Everett    http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com

Pam Farren    http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com

Donetta Farrington    http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com

Gloria Ferrer    http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/

Cherrie Fick    http://designsinthelight.co

Therese Frank    http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com

Patty Gasparino    http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com

Tanya Goodwin    http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html

Ambra Gostoli    http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color

Jess Green    http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/

Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com

Mary Harding    www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com

Karla Hartzog    http://www.karlakrafts.com

Kim Hora    http://www.kimmykats.com

Brandi Hussey    http://brandigirlblog.com

Emanda Johnson    http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com

Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/

Sue Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com

Ema Kilroy    http://emakaye.blogspot.com

Lee Koopman    http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com

Linda Landig    http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com

Kirsi Luostarinen    http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com

Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/

Alicia Marinache    http://www.allprettythings.ca

Beth McCord    http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com

Mary K McGraw    http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/

Karen Mitchell    http://www.overthemoon-design.com

Cheri Mitchell-Reed    http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/

Aimee Moisa    http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com

Karla Morgan    http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com

Penny Neville    http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com

Becky Pancake    http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com

Kashmira Patel    http://sadafulee.blogspot.com

Alice Peterson    http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com

Kayla Potega    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com

Debbie Price    http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk

Bobbie Rafferty    http://beadsong.blogspot.com (yay - you're here!!!)

Caron Reid    http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/

Nicole Rennell    http://nicolerennell.com/blog

Cynthia Riggs    http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html

Andrea Ross    http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/

Sally Russick    http://thestudiosublime.com

Annie Scherz    http://www.studioluma.ca

Pam Sears    http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Renetha Stanziano    http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com

Sandra Stein    http://sannipanni.wordpress.com

Kristen Stevens    http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com

Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com

Sherri Stokey    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html

Lola Survillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com

Kay Thomerson    http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com

Jo Tinley    http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com

Emma Todd    http://www.apolymerpenchant.com

Cory Tompkins    http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com

Pam Traub    http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com

Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com

Michelle Tucker    http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/

Shelley Graham Turner    http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com

Monique Urquhart    http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/

Rachel Van-Walsk    http://balancedcrafts.com/blog

Patti Vanderbloemen    http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com

Lesley Watt    http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com

Lynn White    http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html

Joan Williams    http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com